Brian Burns flies halfway around world to show Panthers what they're missing

Listening to Brian Burns, it sounds like he may have a lot more to say about the Carolina Panthers after Sunday’s game than before it.

Burns has had this game circled on his calendar since the spring, when the Panthers traded him to the Giants for two draft picks rather than paying Burns to play for them.

“Personally, I have my own thoughts about it,” Burns said Wednesday. “But I’m not going to make it any bigger. ... It’s just another game to me.”

Not quite.

Burns, 26, can posture all he wants, but he couldn’t hide it: he would prefer to play this game in Charlotte, N.C., back at the Panthers’ home stadium, than in Munich, Germany.

“Definitely, for sure,” he said with a smirk.

Not that Burns isn’t happy with the five-year, $141 million contract that Giants GM Joe Schoen gave him, on top of shipping second- and fifth-round picks to buddy and Panthers GM Dan Morgan.

It’s just that Burns never wanted to be traded.

He wanted to stay with the franchise that had drafted him No. 16 overall in the 2019 NFL draft. He simply wanted to be paid like a top pass rusher.

“I didn’t ask for a trade,” he said.

When the trade ultimately happened, Burns wasn’t surprised because he could read the writing on the wall by that point. Still, it was so abrupt that he didn’t even get to say proper goodbyes to the people who had helped him grow into an NFL veteran.

“There are a ton of people that I didn’t get to talk to before I left,” he said. “Over five years, you build that bond with a lot of people in a lot of different ways. I do have a special connection with some people from the equipment staff, training staff and some of the lunch people. I’ve just got connections all over that building.”

Burns has embraced his role as leader on the Giants since the deal.

He did his best to take Kayvon Thibodeaux under his wing during the offseason.

He made big plays in both of the Giants’ wins: a strip sack of Cleveland’s Deshaun Watson to set up the winning touchdown in Week 3 and a fourth-down sack of Seattle’s Geno Smith in the fourth quarter of the Giants’ Week 5 win over the Seahawks.

The Giants defense, in fact, leads the NFL with 35 sacks. Burns has five of them.

On the flip side, however, the Giants’ defense has forced only seven turnovers, ranked in a three-way tie for No. 24 in the NFL. They had no sacks against Washington last week. And they have the NFL’s worst run defense.

They are allowing a league-high 5.2 yards per carry, with 11 rushes of 20-plus yards, four of 40-plus yards and seven rushing TDs.

That doesn’t even compare favorably to the Panthers’ run defense, which has allowed a league-worst 1,434 rushing yards and 15 rushing TDs but is surrendering only 4.6 yards per carry with five 20-plus runs and two of 40-plus.

The defensive line doesn’t just have to limit explosive plays and stop allowing gaping holes for runners to burst upfield, though. Defensive coordinator Shane Bowen said they need to take the ball away when they register those sacks.

“A big emphasis for me is we’re back there on the quarterback and we don’t get the ball off him,” Bowen said. “Quarterbacks are the number one fumblers in the NFL. So there’s got to be an emphasis. If we’re able to get back there and we’re able to get to him, let’s try to attack the football. A strip sack is a sack just the same.”

All-Pro defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence ($22.5 million) and Burns ($28.2 million) have to be the players who make those plays.

Burns is the third-highest paid edge rusher by average annual value in the entire NFL; Lawrence ranks ninth among tackles.

Schoen also gave away the chance to draft another corner at the top of the 2024 NFL draft’s second round in the Burns trade, putting more pressure on the pass rush to simply get home.

Burns has battled through groin and Achilles injuries to stay in the lineup and give his all. And he has spoken with accountability and honesty for a 2-7 Giants team on the heels of leaving a perennial loser in Carolina.

So the intangibles are sky high.

“I kind of took on a different role coming here from when I was in Carolina,” he said. “Coming from a place you were drafted, you work to become that guy and that leader of that defense. [Then you come] into a situation that has that guy or has other leaders already established. It’s a different role and a different avenue you have to take to prove yourself.

“I feel like I did that,” he added, ”and I was able to adapt.”

All that matters on Sunday is a win, though. For Burns and for the Giants.

Panthers may dodge Pinnock

Starting safety Jason Pinnock (abdomen) may not play on Sunday, Giants coach Brian Daboll said Friday in Munich. Pinnock got hurt during Thursday’s practice and was listed as limited that day. Then he didn’t practice at all Friday.

Left tackle Chris Hubbard (illness) made the trip, was limited at Friday’s practice and does not have a designation for the game. But it’s still possible that Daboll will trot out a different starting five in front of Daniel Jones on Sunday, whether that includes Josh Ezeudu or Evan Neal.

Darius Slayton (concussion protocol) and wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton (Achilles) are out for the game. Slayton didn’t even make the trip.

Pinnock, kicker Graham Gano (right hamstring) and linebackers Darius Muasau (hamstring) and Matt Adams (calf) are questionable.

Dexter Lawrence (rest) didn’t practice all week but is full-go for the game. Punter Jamie Gillan has no designation for the game, so he is expected to return after a four-game absence while not being placed on injured reserve.

Tight end Theo Johnson (knee/back) was limited all week, and right guard Greg Van Roten (shoulder) was limited on Thursday and Friday after sitting out Wednesday. But they both will play.

Their bodies will get much-needed rest during the Week 11 bye.